Thread by @allenf32

any bitcoiners working in traditional finance: your employer may not be as awesome as mine but don’t worry, your time will come and you’ll be a god damned hero 😊

DM me if you want any advice. happy to open source my institutional orange-pilling strategy 👍

so my DMs have exploded - WHICH IS A GREAT THING!

I’ll reply to all to be polite but a lot of what I’m saying is the same so I’ll shortly do a thread to make the generalities truly “open source”

...

okay, here goes:

1. *be clear on your goals and approach them tactically*

don't make your first swing about Austrian economics, regenerative farming, the petrodollar, or whatever other nonsense you've heard me spout off on.

remember that what you are trying to help ...

1/n

... them overcome is an arguably useful heuristic that this is a scam. you don't convince somebody that something *isn't* a scam by saying, "yeah, well, you know what? YOU'RE THE REAL SCAM, BUDDY!"

before you even start, probably best to read these:

2/n

citadel21.com/why-the-yuppie…

and:

3/n

allenfarrington.medium.com/bitcoin-is-for…

these are both pretty tongue-in-cheek and condescending, so don't take them too literally but do have a realistic sense of the position of those you are talking to, and - very important - don't condescend them! nobody gets it right away, so be kind and be patient.

4/n

but most importantly, be realistic!

which takes us nicely to:

2. *make it about them*

don't tell them about how we are de-dollarizing El Salvador or how lightning will make FX clearing obsolete. at least not at first. identify a way that an improved understanding ...

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... can help *them specifically, right now*.

that will vary enormously depending on your role and your employer's business, so the high-level advice here can only go so far.

but, for example, the following all seem reasonable in the right settings:

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• "if we offered a "pay me in bitcoin" package we could attract far better talent, who might, in turn, be able to teach us!"

• "Bitcoin is a highly asymmetric uncorrelated asset. we should consider a minimum holding just to get comfortable and nudge us to learn more."

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• "we should maybe get our tech guys to learn about self-custody. multi-sig is subtly new in finance terms and could have commercial benefits if we mastered it."

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• "off-chain programmability is coming soon - arguably already here for the brave! - we could run some experiments there. it's worth at least learning in case it turns out to be important, especially since the likes of DLCs again offer the genuinely new."

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notice they all have the word "learn" or "teach" in them.

don't say "I know everything, listen to me right now or you're all Luddites," not only because that isn't true, but more importantly because, back to point 1, it's tactically stupid ...

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... but also because it's not inclusive. you want to make the people you are speaking to (who presumably some kind of decision-making authority) feel like they are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. and not because you tricked them, but because it's true!

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3. *be honest*

you can get to "fix the money, fix the world" eventually - preferably they'll get there on their own! - and there is nothing wrong with holding back the whole truth from day 1.

BUT DO NOT LIE.

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this is kind of a good rule for professional dealings in general, fyi, but you will lay all sorts of entirely avoidable traps for yourself if you try to *overthink* it or be *too tactical*.

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this might sound easy enough and weird of me to say, but think it through: what if you are explaining the fixed supply for entirely technical purposes and they ask, "oh, this is just Austrian economics nonsense, isn't it?"

well, then, you have to talk about that 🤷‍♀️

14/n

don't say, "no". that's a lie. lying is bad and Bitcoin is about truth 😂

you can say it's not all that important to what you are talking about at the time, but if they are interested, that's a conversation you are open to having.

but don't lie. no lying. none. zip.

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4. *stay enthused*

this is more for your own mental health than what's likely to work, but in a roundabout way it's the most important of all.

if you burn out and give up, by definition *nothing* will work!

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points 1 thru 3 are precisely to avoid burning out too fast, because if you don't follow them, you'll achieve nothing and get far more frustrated than even having done nothing at all.

this is not going to happen overnight. HAVE A LOW TIME PREFERENCE! 🤣

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but make sure you believe in *why* you are consciously adopting a low time preference.

so, for example, I have to pinch myself regularly that advancing human freedom and prosperity aligns perfectly with my contract with my employer and my duty to our clients.

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and prior to this point, that light at the end of the tunnel was what kept me motivated.

if you are ever down because it doesn't seem to be working, just remember that your average non-finance bitcoiner would likely give anything to have that opportunity.

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and on a similar note, don't feel any guilt over your motivations, and don't let others try to guilt you either.

this gets to the heart of one of bitcoin's most magical features: its unique and proprietary Number Go Up technology.

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notice, however, I am explaining the other way around from how you have probably normally seen it presented:

Bitcoin is the most important humanitarian project in human history *precisely because* its incentive structure enables it to scale without bound.

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if your tactical pitch relies on NgU (and all do, however indirectly) that's not a bad thing, a conflict, or somehow a dual mandate: it's literally how the thing works. the number has to go up (or at least not go down) or the humanitarian project fails.

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5. *just to clarify ...*

I may have missold my own experience a little, so just to set the record straight (and avoid an awkward telling off when I go back to work tomorrow 😂), I didn't exactly "orange pill" anybody.

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my colleagues are brilliant, curious, and trusting, and it took a while because they are also appropriately skeptical. but many of them absolutely get it now.

if you aren't as lucky as I am to work in such an environment, then just be honest with yourself about it.

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something to keep in mind for probably most roles in finance (given what finance ultimately *is*) and that applies blindingly obviously to me:

we manage other people's money.

it's not ours. so we can't mess around with shiny new toys just because it's fun.

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we have to acquire a deep and considered understanding of what we are talking about and what we are doing.

that amps up the pressure on just about every point I have just mentioned. and that pressure may well be too much in some situations.

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point 4 was to stay enthusiastic, sure, but be realistic. bitcoin-only jobs are proliferating by the day (because, ultimately, NgU!) so I'd be shocked if your experience wasn't incredibly useful for many such roles.

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you might be surprised how many high-profile bitcoiners started out in traditional finance and left because they both knew how broken it was and realized they couldn't do anything worthwhile from the inside.

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that was sadly very true and very common prior to 2020, but it's changing fast (because NgU 😉)

doing the same now is perfectly honorable (and probably less stressful than what I just outlined) but make sure you've really weighed everything up before making that decision.

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that's all.

good luck, everybody. and please don't take this as the final word. my DMs are still open (hopefully always will be) for any follow-up.

😊